PreGlee: the Unofficial Prequel to Glee
by Western Sky
Summary: What was life like for the glee members before New Directions? Set six months prior to the events of Glee; visit William McKinley High School during late 2008 and into 2009, leading up to the moments before Glee’s “Pilot” episode.
1. On My Own

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**Title: **PreGlee  
**Subtitle: **The Unofficial Prequel to Glee  
**Author: **Western Sky  
**Summary: **What was life like for the glee members before New Directions? Set six months prior to the events of Glee; visit William McKinley High School during late 2008 and into 2009, leading up to the moments before Glee's "Pilot" episode.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own "Glee" or any of it cast, crew or storylines. This is pure fandom and I am simply a fan (actually, a huge Gleek!) who enjoyed the beginning of season 1 so much that a new fan-fiction was in order! I thought the concept of a prequel to "Glee" was pretty cool, so here is my take on the characters _before_ episode 1. Take note that this is set during November 2008 and will continue up until May of 2009, which is when I believe the first episode of "Glee" takes place. So, enjoy and please take the time to read and review!

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**Chapter 1:** On My Own

"Hi guys, it's me again!"

She paused.

"Obviously."

The girl bounced lightly, and smoothed the hem of her checked skirt before flashing a quick smile at the video camera. She had placed the recorder atop a tripod and positioned it about a metre away from her, sending her every move to into the nearby computer. "I hope you've liked my videos... if you're even watching them at all... and, uh, yeah! I really like reading your comments, so, um, keep letting me know what you think..."

She stopped to mumble, "...a positive comment couldn't hurt though." Her eyes met the camera lens again and into the dark eye of nothingness. She knew her attempts at uploading online videos of herself crooning to the tunes of musicals and pop classics were just landing upon ignorant ears, but she went on doing so in the hopes of one day fulfilling her dream of being a theatrical star.

"Um, so yeah," she continued, "today I'll be singing 'Good Morning Baltimore' from Hairspray," she paused, "which is actually closing on Broadway in two months, so, uh, go see it while you can! You might remember the video I uploaded in March. I sang 'The Big Dollhouse', which is from the same musical. I've kinda been a bit obsessed with it lately and, uh, so, yeah..."

An awkward silence filled the space between her and the video camera.

"Anyway! I hope you enjoy."

The girl laughed nervously before clearing her throat. "_Oh, oh, oh! Woke up today, feeling the way I always do..._"

[...]

An hour later she had 12 views within the first five minutes of the video being uploaded, plus two new comments to boot – both of which had come from fellow schoolmates and MySpace "friends". She had 128 "friends" on MySpace, none of whom were any _actual_ friends.

Truth be told, she didn't exactly have proper friends. The majority of the people she had on MySpace only accepted the online friendship requests to view her videos and to continue to make a mockery of her online journal.

Somehow she'd kinda hoped that maybe they really did want to be her friend.

She glanced at the latest comments on her newest video – which was one of about two-hundred she'd managed to post once a day, every single day, since the start of the year – and her body slumped back into the chair as she read them.

One comment read: "hahaha more like good morning snooze town!!!!"

The other: "Move back to loser-ville, Rachel Berry!"

Rachel Berry sighed. Her eyes aimlessly wandered over her desk and belongings until she stopped to look at the photo frame on her dresser – it was taken in 1992 at her first dance competition. At 16 years-old, Rachel was an only child with same-sex parents. During childhood her two fathers provided her with every possible opportunity to become the star she was in the progress of achieving. But at school she was simply referred to as "overly ambitious and assertive" by her classmates and was constantly bullied by the Cheerios – the school's cheerleading squad – and football team.

Rachel stared mindlessly at the photograph for a moment.

"One day," she murmured to herself, "one day everything will fall into place." Rachel spun around and looked at her reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall. She took a breath of confidence and straightened up. "Just don't stop believing, Rachel."

[...]

"Rachel!"

The cheery voice of Mr Ryerson echoed down the hall the next morning as Rachel made her way to Science class. Mr Ryerson was head of glee club, which Rachel participated in regularly.

"Mr Ryerson," Rachel said brightly as the flamboyant teacher rushed to her.

"Rachel, I have a fab new idea for next month's Christmas pageant!"

"Oh, cool."

"I was thinking, you plus Hank Saunders equals The First Noel!"

He enthusiastically flashed his arms with added jazz hands as if he could foresee it before his eyes. "Magical, isn't it?"

Rachel blinked. "Sure. That sounds fun."

Her words dripped with the type of sarcasm that Mr Ryerson just did not understand. Rachel knew the idea was boring but what else was new. Nobody cared for glee club or the people in it and no "magical" ideas was going to change that.

"Wonderful! I'll see you after school." The seedy teacher pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose and gave Rachel a quick wink before bustling off into the clearing crowd of students. Rachel stared after him as the students around her went to class with their friends.

It took a moment for her to realize that she was nearly all alone in the corridor now – and that she was late for class. She forced a smile at the irony.

The lyrics of a song from Les Misérables sprung to mind.

"_And now I'm all alone again nowhere to go, no one to turn to._" She quietly hummed the tune on her (hurried) way to Science. "_The city goes to bed and I can live inside my head, on my own._"

**To be continued...**


	2. There’s No Business Like Show Business

**Chapter 2:** There's No Business Like Show Business

Rachel spent the next two periods jotting down dictations by her Science teacher from the back row of the classroom while finding time to glance at Finn Hudson every chance she got.

Finn – fit and athletic – was quarterback of the football team. His father died in the Middle East, so he grew up with his mother, which only enhanced his desire to make her proud of him to replace the lack of fatherly figure in their life. Part of the "in crowd", Finn also dated Quinn Fabray – captain of the Cheerios.

Rachel blinked, attempting to snap herself out of the daydream-like state. She sat alone during most classes – actually, in all classes – but it didn't bother her at all. She was used to it. And besides, it gave her more of an opportunity to admire Finn. It was as close as she'd ever get to the boy. She knew he'd never talk to her. Not in a million years.

"Okay," Mrs Evans tapped the chalkboard, which instantly drew Rachel back to reality, "who can tell me about the Meissner effect?"

Rachel's arm rose.

"Somebody besides Miss Berry?"

Rachel felt herself blush. She always answered the questions in class; but was it because nobody else knew the response or because nobody else cared?

"Mister Hudson," the teacher motioned to Finn, "care to explain?"

The boy seemed startled to have been asked at random, and he clearly hesitated to respond. "Um..."

Rachel rolled her eyes but maintained a sweet smile. "_As if he knows the answer,_" she thought.

"Um, the Meissner effect causes a magnet to, uh, levitate above a superconductor," he said softly, "which gets rid of any magnetic change. I think?"

"Well done, Finn," Mrs Evans beamed, "it's good to know some of us are paying attention. Now, the superconductor does this by setting up its electrical currents near the surface, and..."

Rachel zoned out again. She kept her gaze at Finn, who was now slightly red in the face. "_Cute _and_ smart,_" she smiled, "_can he get any better?_"

Moments later, the class was interrupted by a knock at the door. It was Mr Ryerson.

"I am _so_ sorry to interrupt your class, Naomi," the man said unconvincingly as his eyes scanned the students. Rachel groaned. She knew he was looking for her. "I was just looking for Rachel Berry. I wanted a quick word with her."

Rachel tried to hide her face with her hand but failed miserably when nearly the entire class turned to look at her. Embarrassed, she stood up and headed for the door, leaving behind a murmur of giggling by the others. Mr Ryerson was never one to be discreet. As soon as she stepped into the hall and had shut the door behind her, Mr Ryerson grinned madly.

"Okay, so I was wondering how you'd like it if you took centre stage at the pageant."

"Sure, that sounds great," Rachel shook her head absentmindedly, "but, uh, I don't mean to be rude Mr Ryerson, but couldn't you have just asked me at glee tonight?"

"Oh no, I had to know straight away. I have a busy schedule and all." He snapped his fingers excitedly.

"Right," Rachel frowned, "yeah, that sounds fine."

"Terrific! I'll let Hank and the others know."

"I wouldn't really say 'others'," Rachel half-joked.

Mr Ryerson didn't understand.

"I'm sorry," she smiled to make up for her mumble, "I guess people are just getting to me lately."

"What do you mean, sweetie?"

Rachel took a moment to continue after being called "sweetie" by her male (and somewhat creepy) singing teacher. "Well, okay, it's no secret that glee isn't the most popular place in school anymore. I mean, there are only four of us in there, Mr Ryerson!" She paused. "And one of them is you!"

"Look, I know we aren't defying gravity here." He suddenly chuckled. "See my little pun there? Defying gravity?" He laughed, referring to the song 'Defying Gravity' from the musical Wicked. "Oh, I crack myself up sometimes."

"Okay." Rachel sighed. "Anyway, I'm being laughed at and I hate it. I mean, I'm over the fact that people don't like me around here, I really don't care about that, but..." She stopped to think. She was ready to give up on glee club altogether. Obviously it was a passion she held since forever, and she wasn't going to stop her talent from growing – her MySpace videos would help that – but deep down she knew that if she quit glee too then there was no chance of ever having proper experience for college. She sighed again.

"_Fine_, I'm okay. Never mind. I'll do the Christmas pageant with Hank. But it's not going to change the fact that we are the worst glee club in the state."

Mr Ryerson raised an eyebrow.

Rachel held up a hand. "Please let me say this. All you gotta do is take a look at the trophy case down the hall to see how far glee has fallen in the last few years. We're crap now! ...well, except me of-course. But despite that, glee club used to be the place where you went with dreams of being a star. Now it's just a place for outcasts."

"But Hank is far from an outcast, dear."

"But we all know why he's really still with us!" Rachel lowered her voice. "I'm sorry to rant, Mr Ryerson, I just feel like the only point of this club now is a place to keep us from getting beaten up after school. And it's not like principal Figgins cares much about us either."

Mr Ryerson remained silent for a moment. "Frankly, there's a fine, fine line here Rachel, and if you're willing to make it big then you're gonna have to stick it out whether you like it or not, I'm afraid." For the first time, Mr Ryerson sounded firm. "You know what they say, there's no business like show business."

Before another word could be said, the bell rang out, signalling end of class, and students instantly began spewing into the corridor.

"I'll see you later, Miss Berry."

Rachel groaned at her frustrated outburst and spun around to get her things from the Science classroom. As she turned, her face met with somebody's chest – _hard_.

"Ow, I'm so sorry," Rachel quickly apologized. "I didn't mean to --" Her words were caught in her throat as she realized who she'd bumped into. It was Finn Hudson.

"No problem, I hope you're okay," he said with a smile before walking away.

Rachel momentarily stood in shock. She had to literally stop herself from squealing with delight. As she practically ran back to the classroom she knew exactly what song she'd be singing on MySpace tonight – 'I Can Hear The Bells' from Hairspray.

**To be continued...**


	3. Diva's Lament

**Chapter 3:** Diva's Lament

The day progressed slower than most would have liked, but for Mercedes Jones it felt like a godsend. She reached for the packed lunch her mother had made, shut the locker door and immediately headed for the library. She needed as much time as possible to study for a Math test next period. If she hadn't spent the night searching online for the latest designer winter wear, she might've actually done some study, so now she hurried to the library alone. It wasn't that she had no friends – she had a few good girlfriends – but not enough, according to the other cliques at school. But that didn't matter... did it?

Mercedes was young, confident and a diva. Although plump, she remained fashion conscious and hot tempered, and never let anyone get her down.

She planted herself at the nearest empty table and proceeded to scatter her books around the table. She glanced up at an overhead clock and sighed. There was already only forty-five minutes of lunch to go.

"School first, vogue later," Mercedes told herself as she unpacked her sandwich and eyed the pile of books in front of her.

She took a bite of her sandwich. "_Mm, baloney!_"

As Mercedes settled into her Math notes, she slipped her iPod headphones in and nibbled on her lunch, concentrating on study whilst quietly humming along to 'I'm Every Woman' by Whitney Houston.

"_I ain't braggin' 'cause I'm the one, just ask me,_"the song played, "_and it shall be done and don't bother to compare, I got it. I'm every woman._"

Mercedes started to tap her heels with the tune.

"_I'm every woman, it's all in me. Anything you want done baby, I do it naturally. I'm every woman, I'm every woman, I'm every woman, I'm every woman, I'm every wo_-- Mercedes!"

Mercedes jumped with a fright; she hadn't noticed the girl standing by her table. Embarrassed, Mercedes quickly tore the headphones from her ears and forced a smile at the girl. "Beccy, hi. I'm sorry I, uh, didn't see you there."

"Too focused on Math, I see," the girl named Beccy joked, "I was wondering if you wanted to come to the mall with Sara and I after school? There's an awesome sale on at Sears."

"Well," Mercedes hesitated for a moment.

"_School before vogue._" The words repeated in her mind. "_School before vogue. Your grades have dropped, Mercedes. Put school first!_"

She finally replied with, "That sounds great!"

"_Damn it. My mind says one thing, my mouth says another..._"

"Awesome!" Beccy smiled, "I'll see you after school. Good luck with the Math test."

Beccy was one of Mercedes' only friends. Together they weren't popular, nor did they socialize with others very often, but they had each other, and Mercedes liked that they were close-knit.

Mercedes watched as Beccy happily wandered off into an aisle. However, guilt had overcome Mercedes now – she knew she shouldn't be spending so much time on things other than school but she just couldn't help it. Her grades had dropped and her parents had already come down hard on her about the issue.

She looked at the clock again. Fifteen minutes left and she'd still done only very little study. If she failed this test... well, she just couldn't afford to fail it. She just couldn't.

[...]

Rachel entered the girls' bathroom, backpack in tow. She made her way to the nearest mirror and began unpacking her makeup to reapply before glee club. While she added a blend of glitter and pink blush to match her blouse, the door swung wide open to reveal Quinn Fabray and fellow Cheerios', Santana and Brittany, dressed in their red cheerleading uniforms. Rachel spotted them in the mirror and was instantly reminded of the movie Mean Girls. She rolled her eyes and ignored their presence. They, however, could not stop staring at Rachel.

"Well, look who it is," Quinn snarled, "it's little Miss Barbra Streisand."

"_I'm surprised you even know who that is,_" Rachel thought.

The trio stepped into the bathroom and gained on Rachel who was trying her best to not pay attention to them. Brittany glowered at Rachel's use of the makeup and she made a face at her friends. The other girl, Santana, took this as a cue to pipe up. "Getting ready for the tranny prom, Rachel?"

Rachel simply smiled and, teasingly, continued to apply the blush – but this time she added a mixture of dark green, thicker than the last. The Cheerios looked at each other, half-intimidated and through stifles of laugher, and glared at Rachel sternly. Still, she stayed silent.

Quinn rolled her eyes, tightened her hair in the mirror, and then signalled for the others to follow her out the door. As they passed, Rachel smiled light-heartedly and reached for her hairspray, making sure to purposely inadvertently spray it at full force in their direction. The trio instantly coughed.

"Ugh! Watch it, Berry," Brittany rasped, "you're going down."

Rachel didn't let the remark affect her. That is until Quinn made one final comment as she exited the bathroom.

"Is it even possible to go any more down? She's a Gleek!"

Rachel heard their laughter fade away down the hall as the door closed behind them. She exhaled loudly. Gleek? What was that? A combination of the words "glee" and "geek"? Rachel stared at her reflection longingly.

"Don't listen to them," she muttered, "do this for you."

And with that, Rachel Berry flashed a toothy smile, gathered her bag and waltzed out of the bathroom with an (attempted) bubbly energy.

**To be continued...**

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**Author's Note: **...and now to address all the reviews. First of all, thank you all so very much! Your comments motivate me to write further and all your critiques are extremely appreciated.

** LadyLove13: **Yep, I am really bent on good spelling and grammar too. So, thanks for picking up on that. ;P There's nothing worse than a storii writen lyk diss!!!1!!!1111!1! (LOL!)

** Livvy J. / Char-chan / Kimberly: **This story will indeed focus on all the "Glee" characters, not just Rachel. I used her as the main focal point to start off with but I will slowly branch out to the others as time goes on. Don't forget, this story is/will be set over the course of six months, which means there's plenty of time to develop our favourite Gleeks, as well as position them in storylines during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

** BwayBabs: **I totally agree about the Hairspray thing. I had originally written the Hairspray shout-out for Chapter 1 and that alone, however when I (unexpectedly) wrote about Rachel's encounter with Finn in the hall in Chapter 2 I felt that it was the perfect opportunity to mention 'I Can Hear The Bells', which pretty much sums up Rachel's thoughts/emotions at that moment to a tee. But, don't stress, I'll definitely move onto other things right away. ;) Also, in regards to the story being so Rachel-centric, my response above answers that, but I would like to add that I have re-watched episode 1 thoroughly and have picked up on subtle details that I am/will include later/during my story so that it remains consistent and fits the first episode of "Glee" accurately. I'm quite fond of consistency.

** Bec: **Thank you. After watching the first three episodes of the show, I really wanted to write a fan-fiction about it, but with only very little to go by I found it really hard to think of something creative and original to produce – and thus the idea of a prequel suddenly came to mind! As I mentioned in the above response, I have watched episode 1 very carefully and you'll be seeing little things (like, the Cheerios starring on Fox Sports Net, the 'All By Myself' flashback scene that Emma mentioned in episode 2, more development on Mr Ryerson coming onto Hank, etc) later on in the story.

Thanks for all the feedback! :)

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